It was a classic 3-1 series for G2 Esports on Friday, taking down Splyce in the semifinals of the European League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split playoffs to make its fifth consecutive finals appearance.
The series was predicted to be close, and the opening gave game no indication of which way it would go. The gold difference sat comfortably under 1,000 until the 24-minute mark when Splyce's five-man engage during a G2 push backfired; G2 took the mid lane turret, and subsequent Baron. Undeterred, Splyce continued to start fights despite a gold deficit, and was able to win time and again thanks to the power of mid laner Yacin "Nisqy" Dincer on Swain. A 4-for-2 exchange at 41 minutes gave Splyce the opening game of the series.
Unhappy with its performance in the late game, G2 turned on the jets for Game 2, monopolizing kills, turrets, and neutral objectives for the first 15 minutes and punishing Splyce's first tower take with a 3-for-0 fight in the bottom lane. This time around, G2 capitalized on its lead, forcing a 26-minute Baron to break open Splyce's base, and a 33-minute one to even up the series.
As the series continued, the importance of Swain in the current metagame became ever more prominent. Game 3 demonstrated this best of all, as the early-to-mid game was almost a carbon copy of Game 1, with the gold left even up until a G2 Baron. This time around, however, it was G2 with the powerful Swain for top laner Martin "Wunder" Hansen for the second game in a row, giving G2 enough of an advantage to take fights. This led to G2 putting itself at match point after a 36-minute quadra kill from AD carry Petter "Hjarnan" Freyschuss on Jhin at Baron.
Game 4 saw the third neck-and-neck opening of the series, but with Swain failing to make a fourth appearance, the teamfights were anyone's to take. Ultimately, however, it was G2's series-long Baron control that made the difference, as it maintained its virtual monopoly on the objective by taking it at 25 minutes while Wunder's Fiora stalled multiple members of Splyce in the bottom lane. By the time the buff wore off, G2's carries had scaled beyond the ability of Splyce to compete with, and G2 took the series at the 38-minute mark.
Despite the new roster, G2 Esports now has yet another chance to secure its title as the King of Europe next Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET. Splyce will play for third place the day before at 11 a.m. ET.
--Brendan Hickey